2.11.2016

How NOT to refinish Furniture: An Anti-Tutorial

Our coffee table has seen a few too many house parties sans coasters and a stain that didn't scream "Meg". With my Mardi Gras time off and my new found proactivity and high off of two previous successful tangos with stain and chalk paint I decided to refinish it. BAD IDEA.

Mistake One: Thinking stripping was an easy task.
It took me ALMOST ALL OF SEASON 6 of GILMORE GIRLS (Read about 6 hours) to get the dang original stain off. Also I think I have carpel tunnel now.

Mistake Two: Color
I had previously stained a set of shelves and the top of our Kitchen table with minwax "Dark Walnut" and LOVED it. Which is weird because I DO NOT love (or even really like) stain. After I stained the beautifully stripped table with one coat of Dark Walnut stain I hated it which leads to mistake 3...

Mistake Three: Multiple Coats of Stain
DO NOT DO IT. I REPEAT, DO NOT PUT MULTIPLE COATS OF OIL BASED STAIN ON A PROJECT it will be sticky and it will make you turn to reddit for answers. Reddit people, I turned to the dark side for DIY help if that doesn't scream anti-tutorial I don't know what does.

Mistake Four: Chalk Paint over Sticky Stain
I will chalk this decision up to the paint fumes that had been lingering for three days in my apartment. Honestly, I was frustrated and impatient and just wanted this stupid project done so I threw a coat of I- am-so- popular- because- you-don't-have-to-sand-before-using-me-paint (aka chalk paint) on top of the sticky stain and basically watched the stain eat the chalk paint for lunch.

After toggling between chucking the table off the balcony or burning the apartment down I put on my big girl pants and stripped the table down again (see mistake 1!) and painted it correctly.

So to recap I ...
Stripped,
Stained,
Painted,
Stripped,
Painted/Stained,
Lost 4 days of my life and possibly my sanity.